A hospital expansion is a live operating environment first and a construction site second. Patients, ambulances, supply trucks and surgeons keep moving while we build, and every decision about crane picks, haul routes, utility shutdowns and noise has to protect those flows. We take on hospital additions, patient towers, central plants, support buildings and campus logistics, and we plan them the way we plan a busy distribution campus: dock access, truck routing and uptime come first.
Colorado hospitals are adding capacity in several directions. AdventHealth Parker at 9395 Crown Crest Boulevard has 179 beds and began a $300 million, seven-story, 186,000 square foot tower adding sixty beds with a groundbreaking on January 7, 2025. Intermountain Health Lutheran Hospital in Wheat Ridge, a 226 bed hospital, opened its new building on August 3, 2024 when patients moved from the old 38th Avenue site. AdventHealth Castle Rock at 2350 Meadows Boulevard opened August 1, 2013, has 90 beds listed, and opened a cancer center on February 23, 2026.
Those three examples show the range: a vertical tower on an existing campus, a replacement building on a new site, and an incremental service-line addition. Each calls for a different delivery plan.
Reviews that run in parallel with design
Hospital permitting has more steps than any other building type we handle. The local building department reviews structure, egress and energy. The fire authority reviews life safety and smoke control. State health-facility licensing reviews the program, room sizes and infection control. We map those reviews at preconstruction, then build a submittal calendar that sends each package to the right reviewer at the right time.
The code edition varies with the site. Denver adopted new building and fire codes on June 13, 2025, based on the 2024 International Building Code, with a transition period of about six months during which the 2022 or 2025 Denver Building Code could be used. Elsewhere, commercial building codes in Colorado are adopted city by city and county by county, so a campus that straddles two jurisdictions can be reviewed under two editions. We confirm the edition and any local amendments with each reviewer before pricing.
Campuses cluster, and so do their projects
The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora covers 256 acres (578 acres with the Fitzsimons Life Science District) and has nearly 25,000 faculty and staff. A campus that size has projects in motion at all times: research buildings, clinical towers, parking, utilities and logistics. The Aurora campus rewards a builder who can stage work around live roads and share infrastructure across phases.
In Lakewood, St. Anthony Hospital built a medical campus on 50 acres sold from the Denver Federal Center, opened in 2011 with about 1,500 employees, and an RTD light rail station opened in 2013 on another former part of the site. Medical campuses that grow beside transit and highways draw medical office, parking and support space around them, which is where our medical office work and Lakewood experience connect.
Infection control, noise and utility shutdowns
Before any demolition or breakthrough on a hospital campus, we complete an infection control risk assessment with the owner's infection prevention team. It sets the barrier type, negative air pressure, dust monitoring and cleaning procedure for each phase. Crews are briefed on the plan, and a designated person checks barriers daily.
Utility shutdowns are scheduled in coordination with clinical leadership. Tie-ins to medical gas, emergency power, chilled water and fire alarm need windows when the affected area can be taken offline or backed up. We write a method statement for every shutdown, rehearse the sequence, stage materials in advance and keep a recovery plan ready. Noise and vibration limits protect operating rooms, imaging and sleeping areas, and we monitor them when work is near.
What a hospital package includes
A typical project includes structure, envelope, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, medical gas, nurse call, low-voltage systems and specialty finishes. Large patient towers also include a central plant expansion, emergency power and an expanded campus utility loop. We price those systems as part of one program, so the owner sees the real cost of capacity.
The support side looks like a distribution project. A hospital depends on loading docks, materials management, sterile processing, a kitchen and waste handling, and those functions need truck courts, dock levelers and well-planned circulation. Our dock equipment and levelers and site utilities package experience is directly useful here. Sprinkler design in storage areas gets the same attention we give ESFR fire protection in a distribution building.
Phasing a tower around an operating campus
Hospital schedules turn on three things: permit approvals, long-lead equipment and shutdown windows. We start the permit process during design, order switchgear, generators, chillers, elevators and air handlers at the first allowable date, and sequence enabling work, such as utility relocation and new roads, before the main structure.
A seven-story tower takes years, not months, so we build a living schedule with owner-controlled milestones: foundations, structure complete, dry-in, systems commissioning, licensing inspection and patient move-in. Each milestone has a float we can see, and an owner who can see it can decide when to add a crew or shift a scope. Developers weighing a medical building for a health system to lease can read about our developer and REIT delivery.
Preconstruction that ties cost to the clinical program
We start every hospital job with a clinical program review. How many beds, what service lines, what imaging, what surgical suites, what future expansion? Those answers set the structural grid, the floor-to-floor height and the mechanical capacity. A tower designed without future expansion in mind can cost more later than it saves now, so we price a plan with vertical or horizontal expansion capacity as an alternate.
We then price the campus enabling work, which is often underestimated. Roads, parking, utility corridors and the logistics of getting a crane on a congested site can be a large portion of the budget. The same method carries over to school construction on occupied campuses.
Planning a hospital or campus addition?
Send us the program, the campus plan and the target opening date. We will return a phasing plan, a permit calendar and a budget range.
Common Questions
Can you build next to occupied patient areas?
Yes. We complete an infection control risk assessment with your team, set barrier and air-pressure rules for each phase, and monitor noise, vibration and dust. Daily checks and weekly reviews keep the plan current.
How long does a patient tower take?
Years, not months. A seven-story tower with a central plant tie-in involves foundations, structure, envelope, systems commissioning and a licensing inspection before move-in. We build the schedule around owner milestones and order long-lead equipment early.
Which code edition will my hospital be reviewed under?
It depends on the jurisdiction. Denver, for example, adopted codes on June 13, 2025 based on the 2024 International Building Code, while other cities and counties remain on earlier editions. We confirm the edition with each reviewer before pricing.
What should we plan for utilities?
Plan for the central plant, emergency power, medical gas, and the campus utility loop early. Shutdowns for tie-ins need clinical approval and rehearsal, so we schedule them as milestones and prepare a recovery plan for each.
Do you handle campus logistics like parking and docks?
Yes. Hospitals depend on loading docks, materials management and parking, and we plan construction access so deliveries and patients do not conflict. Our distribution background helps with dock layout, truck courts and circulation.
